Gonzaga University Athletics

Cesar Vargas Rodriguez enters his sixth season as assistant coach for the Gonzaga men's tennis program in 2023-24.

In the 2021-22 season, Vargas Rodriguez helped the GU men’s tennis team break records on and off the court. As an assistant coach, Vargas Rodriguez led the GU men’s tennis team to their best dual record (18-6), best home dual record (11-0), and longest dual winning streak (8) in program history. The excellent season saw the GU men’s tennis program earn their highest ITA national ranking (51st) and ITA regional ranking (5th) in program history. In addition, Vargas Rodriguez helped the Zags secure their third consecutive ITA All-Academic Award, with seven men’s tennis players recognized as ITA Scholar Athletes. The Zags were also recognized for their academic achievements at a conference level, as Oliver Andersson and Matthew Hollingworth earned placements on the WCC All-Academic Team, and Leon Roider and Theo McDonald were WCC All-Academic Honorable Mentions.

Vargas Rodriguez assisted with GU’s continued success in his second season, securing the Bulldogs’ highest ranking ever at No. 62 in February of 2020. Prior to the cancellation of the 2020 spring season due to COVID-19, the Zags posted a 10-4 duals mark along with a perfect 5-0 home duals record—both program records for win percentage—while seven players recorded double-figure wins, led by 20 victories from Matthew Hollingworth. In doubles play, Hollingworth paired with Sam Feit to earn the program’s highest doubles ranking ever at No. 33, released by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association in early February, 2020. The Zags were poised for another record-breaking West Coast Conference season before the cancellation of the spring season in early March.
 
Off the court, Vargas Rodriguez continued to cultivate the success of the Bulldogs in the classroom and community as GU posted a department record 3.90 team GPA in the spring of 2020. The Zags saw eight perfect 4.0 GPAs during the semester with nine President’s List and two Dean’s List honorees. As a result, GU was awarded its second-straight ITA All-Academic Team honor with a program-record 10 ITA Scholar Athletes. In the community, the Bulldogs contributed 191.5 hours to community service during the 2019-20 season to rank second in the department with just shy of 16 service hours volunteered per person. The ITA took notice, awarding the Zags with ITA Community Service Award.
 
Once again, the Bulldogs landed one of the top recruiting classes in the nation, securing the 10th-best recruiting class among all mid-majors for the 2020-21 season. Vargas Rodriguez helped to sign highly ranked players from Mexico, Canada, Austria and California.

He helped head coach Jonas Piibor lead Gonzaga to unprecedented heights in his first year at the helm, ending the season with the program's first-ever ITA ranking at No. 75. The Zags went 16-8 overall and were second in the West Coast Conference with a 7-2 mark, both program records. During the course of the season, GU defeated its highest-ranked opponent ever in then-No. 31 BYU, defeated Portland and Pepperdine each for the first time ever, and collected its first conference road win in the program. Gonzaga had three players honored on the All-WCC Teams, with Sam Feit on the Singles First Team, Feit and Ruadhan O'Sullivan on the Doubles First Team, and O'Sullivan and Vincent Rettke each named the Honorable Mention in Singles as well.

Not only was GU successful on the court, but academically as well. The squad set a program record with five players named to WCC All-Academic Teams, while also placing four on the ITA Scholar-Athlete Team. The squad also earned the ITA All-Academic Team honor.  

To wrap up his first year, Vargas Rodriguez was instrumental in helping put together the best recruiting class in program history, bringing in the No. 24-ranked class in the nation and third-best class among mid-majors. The group was led by three highly-ranked players according to TennisRecruiting.net with the nation's No. 15-ranked overall player in Eric Hadigian, No. 35 overall player in Oliver Andersson and No. 115-ranked player in Brandon Park.

Vargas Rodriguez is a veteran coach at the Division I level, spending three seasons prior to Gonzaga as the associate head coach at Elon University. During his time with the Phoenix, Elon amassed 45 wins and advanced to three-straight Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) conference tournament semifinals. Under Vargas Rodriguez’s direction, Elon saw 14 all-conference selections including the 2018 CAA Player of the Year and 2016 CAA Rookie of the Year Felipe Sarrasague. Vargas Rodriguez also helped two players to earn CAA All-Academic honors during his time at Elon.

Vargas Rodriguez also spent time as an assistant coach with Georgia State during the 2012-13 season, serving as interim head coach during the fall of 2012. The Panthers posted a 15-11 overall record with a 6-2 mark in the Sun Belt Conference; Georgia State captured the 2013 Sun Belt Conference Championship in the team’s first-ever appearance in the Sun Belt Conference Championships. The program collected a big win over then-No. 49 ETSU and qualified for the NCAA Championships. Georgia State finished the 2013 season ranked No. 61 in the nation.
 
Vargas Rodriguez played collegiately at Nebraska and served as co-captain of the Huskers while competing at the No. 2 singles and doubles positions during his final season. He graduated in 2004 with a degree in business administration, and he served as the graduate assistant for Nebraska for one season following his graduation.
 
Vargas Rodriguez is a certified teaching professional by both the United State Professional Tennis Association and the Professional Tennis Registry. He is currently working toward his Master's in organizational leadership at Gonzaga.